York Guides

Paul Jeeves (Yorkshire Post)
AN Army bomb disposal unit helped to unlock the secrets of a Roman tomb unearthed during an archaeological dig in York.

The four-and-a-half tonne sarcophagus is one of the first of its kind to be discovered in York for several decades and archaeologists are anxious to preserve the remains locked inside.
The tomb's lid is a one-and-a-half tonne slab of gritstone so the Army explosives experts from Catterick in North Yorkshire used fibre-optic endoscopy equipment, similar to devices used by hospital surgeons, to peak inside.
The equipment was squeezed through a small gap in the coffin's seal to take images of the interior.
The shots of a culture dating back two millennia have thrown up an intriguing prospect – soil which seeped into the coffin through a fault in the stonework could have preserved some of the remains.
Only the very wealthy would able to afford the stone coffins, which would have been seen as an indication of their social standing.
Mike Griffiths, who is leading the archaeological dig in The Mount area of York on a site earmarked for a housing development, said: "If we get what we are hoping could be in there, it would be an amazing find.
"The decay of a body in a sealed container would be complete, whereas damp soil slows down the decaying process.
"A lot of these sarcophagi were found during the Victorian times and a few throughout the 20th century, but a lot of the time people were only interested in the items which were placed inside, such as pottery and personal items.
"We have refined our techniques, and we are now looking at far more subtle information in aspects such as the soil."
Two members of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps, Staff Sgt Phil Morley and L/Cpl John Tosh, spent an hour at the archaeological site on Monday.
Staff Sgt Morley said: "It was fascinating to be helping out with something that is 2,000 years old."
The housing development is for Shepherd Homes.